Is fall turkey season bad?

[Wareagle1011]

So, im some what of a fall turkey hunting afficianado. Thats my time. Pressure is low. Birds are grouped. They are patternable. Contrary to popular belief there is amazing vocalizations in fall birds and they can be called. For some reason, I catch flack for fall turkey hunting. Hens and gobblers breed. They do this and then the hen lays a nest and hatches her brood. This is how turkeys are made. Gobblers are just as important as a hen. Yet, we have large numbers of turkey hunters these days running around the spring woods bustin ol mr tom and then hating on a fall season where a hen is legal to take. Fall season is the traditional turkey season. Last few spring seasons in my area were timed wrong. And it led to alot of hens being bumped off their nests and ran around. This led to lower numbers of poults overall. Can somebody give me a logical explanation to why a fall turkey season could get frowned upon? Im a spring hunter too. Dont get me wrong there. But when somebody argues with me that we should get rid of the fall season and keep the spring aka breeding season in effort to help turkey numbers then i guess I just dont understand nature very well. My local bird population has probably triple the amount of hens as it does gobblers. In my own personal opinion there is no reason for it other then the fact people want strutting toms, thunderous gobbles, decoys being attacked, etc. Its all about money. Not conservation. Atleast not that I know of. Maybe one of you guys can help me understand the point of ridding away fall seasons. On a conservational level not a popularity/monetary level. Im baffled. Until then, im gonna keep fall turkey hunting. And may even bag a hen.

 

[Luigi Daniele]

I am for both, but your argument is strong. We hunt no other upland bird in the spring, because they are nesting. No other game animal, either, for similar reasons.
Won't shoot a hen for the same reason that I won't shoot hen ducks (we can) or does (we can't*).


*this means that, for me at least, does are doesn'ts*

 

[SkolMNDuckHunter]

The fall harvest is so minimal there's not much to be made of it on populations at all. I simply don't do it because I'm too darn busy chasing everything else!

 

[Brottboss]

We typically shoot a few hens every fall. I never considered it an issue, and I've yet to meet anybody who claims its "bad". Of course, where I'm at theres no lack of birds, quite the opposite.
Every year we read stories of "Karens" who bitch/moan over their petunias getting shredded by turkeys, but don't let anybody hunt their property, I laugh, people are idiots.

 

[bird junkie]

If the population can handle the harvest it’s a non issue. I used to hunt fall birds a lot go break a flock up call em back. When our season run concurrent with deer season we were losing birds since they separated deer and turkey (for the most part) not nearly as many opportunity birds are harvested. As for hen to gobbler ratio I would guess a hen lays more female eggs than male eggs due to the fact one gobbler will breed many hens.

 

[Wareagle1011]

We typically shoot a few hens every fall. I never considered it an issue, and I've yet to meet anybody who claims its "bad". Of course, where I'm at theres no lack of birds, quite the opposite.
Every year we read stories of "Karens" who bitch/moan over their petunias getting shredded by turkeys, but don't let anybody hunt their property, I laugh, people are idiots.

Buddy I kid you not there are some hardcore spring turkey hunters who have argued with me that im hurting the population.

 

[Wareagle1011]

If the population can handle the harvest it’s a non issue. I used to hunt fall birds a lot go break a flock up call em back. When our season run concurrent with deer season we were losing birds since they separated deer and turkey (for the most part) not nearly as many opportunity birds are harvested. As for hen to gobbler ratio I would guess a hen lays more female eggs than male eggs due to the fact one gobbler will breed many hens.

Thats another thing, if im in my stand and a turkey walks by, I wanna shoot it.

 

[Wareagle1011]

I am for both, but your argument is strong. We hunt no other upland bird in the spring, because they are nesting. No other game animal, either, for similar reasons.
Won't shoot a hen for the same reason that I won't shoot hen ducks (we can) or does (we can't*).


*this means that, for me at least, does are doesn'ts*

Thank you. Im just glad im not going crazy. That is what it seems like. As I said I support a spring season but no way will I ever argue the removal of a fall season in the name of “conservation”. Im not blind I can see the the reasons. $$. Going against the grain of mother nature.

 

[Wareagle1011]

If the population can handle the harvest it’s a non issue. I used to hunt fall birds a lot go break a flock up call em back. When our season run concurrent with deer season we were losing birds since they separated deer and turkey (for the most part) not nearly as many opportunity birds are harvested. As for hen to gobbler ratio I would guess a hen lays more female eggs than male eggs due to the fact one gobbler will breed many hens.

Yea I figured it was something like that. I wish I could just take one DNR biologist from my state, bring them out early in the spring and show them what happens. But, my area isnt worth it. Its too small, not a vacationing spot for turkey hunters etc. Still, I and others hunt them. Anyway every spring, well before opener, last year it was almost an entire month and a half before the opener, you will see the toms show up for about a week. They then break up. The hens get broken up. They start doing their thing. The youth hunt has been barely hitting them right. And thats good. Atleast the youth in my area are getting a chance. Although theres not many of them anymore it seems. By the time season opens up all the gobblers have began “migrating” back onto the large amounts of private farms we have around here. After that, they disappear completely. You wont see them again until next spring before season. The hens have been nesting at the peak of everybody showing up to turkey hunt. This is why Ive found quite a few abandoned nests over the years. This is what our spring season has been like. A bunch of turkey hunters chasing just a few jakes and busting up all the nesting hens. I obviously dont really know what im talking about when it comes to timing a turkey season but would it not be better to start sooner? I guess the weather depends also. I dont know its kind of hard thing to control in the bigger picture but I havent had a good spring season in a long time because of this.

 

[mudhen]

Overall turkey populations are way down in the US…

“I see plenty in my area” is not scientific data…

Poult survival rate is below 1.0 in many areas…

The math and science are pretty clear…

Many states have new lower bag limits because of low brood survival numbers…

Nebraska & Kansas are going to quotas and reduced bag for 2023…

Fall seasons are closing/limited in some areas…

But maybe this is all a natural process for a non-native animal?

Maybe the record high numbers of the past are not sustainable?